Although our personalities take years to develop, the expectations placed on us by our families and societies begin at conception. As we move toward adulthood these expectations become a part of us. But as we go about our daily lives and interact with others and our world, we rarely give much thought to what has gone into shaping the person we have become.18
As every parent knows, each child is an individual with distinct talents, tastes, and personalities – even within the same family. Thus it seems that our behaviors and the choices we make are determined at least to some extent by our internal makeup as well as external influences.
Young children are infinitely creative. They continually come up with new and original ideas in their play and interactions but lose much of that creativity as they age. When they start school they may discover that they are talented at writing or math, athletics, or that they have natural mechanical skills. They begin to think of themselves as either leaders or followers. They believe themselves proficient in some areas and not others. The preferences and tastes they develop ultimately shape the direction of their lives and determine who they are seen to be by others and themselves.19
With the advent of adolescence, many children make choices that are different from the lessons they have been taught or the lifestyles they see around them. Although this might seem negative to parents, it may be a healthy trend that leads them to making original choices and moving their lives in a new – and possibly more viable – direction. But at what point do we at last choose a clear direction for ourselves and become adults who take responsibility for our own lives? When do we really make our own decisions, or are our actions as adults always determined by our backgrounds? And even if we live in a democracy, is it really possible to forge an independent path?
Regardless of whether we really are born “free,” the person we become desires the freedom to make choices and determine her or his destiny. We want opportunities to develop and express our talents in a way that maximizes our control over our future. If not allowed to make these choices we are likely to believe ourselves oppressed.
To maximize our chance of being able to make the major choices that affect our lives we must live under a form of government that supports our right to make them, or at least one that does not interfere with that right. For thousands of years – going back at least to the ancient Greeks – politicians, philosophers, historians, and ordinary citizens have debated how best to create a government that protects the ability of individuals to determine their own direction.20
If we believe democracy worth preserving, we must understand its origins to determine in what ways it has succeeded or failed to meet its lofty aspirations of greater freedom and choice for all. Once we compare what it has achieved with the ideals that we hold for it we hopefully can learn the lessons – and make the required adjustments – to keep it viable for ourselves and future generations.
Understanding why democracy is appealing to so many is essential to preserving it. Is the desire for freedom – and the ability to make choices that come with it – a part of human nature that goes back to our origins, or is it a relatively recent innovation in human thought? For those who value democracy, when and why did we decide that choice was important, and how did we begin to think it essential to participate in determining our own fate rather than simply submitting and allowing others – or our circumstances – to choose a direction for us? In this chapter I present an historical and geographical overview of societies through time, focusing on how elements of democracy have woven their way in and out of the structures of our civilizations.
From Prehistory to History
As our ancestors began their migration from the south through the north of Africa and beyond, they brought with them an ability to work together with others that allowed their primitive societies to progress. As societies developed around the world there were common patterns. There was a progression from more democratic governance in small groups to more specialization as societies grew larger and more authority was concentrated in the hands of rulers. Those who were ruled gradually had less contact with their rulers, who often gained god-like status. This usually was seen as the structure needed for survival of growing city-states and eventual countries. Rulers occasionally were overthrown, usually by those who already were in powerful positions. At this point the possibility of democratic government no longer was considered an option.
The first settlers of Egypt made the transition from the hunter-gatherer stage to agricultural civilization as early as 6000 BCE, aided by the fertile crescent of land provided by the annual flooding of the Nile. Beginning in what is known as the Predynastic Period, about 4000 BCE, archeologists have been able to determine that there was a fairly egalitarian civilization in Egypt because there is little difference in the grave goods found in burial sites. This changed as an elite group developed about five hundred years later, as evidenced by more elaborate tombs. Communities grew larger and got into conflicts, which led to unification in about 3000 BCE. Kings eventually were all-powerful, which included being considered owners of the land. Human sacrifice was introduced as rulers began to take entire households with them into the afterlife.21
Peasants were tied to the land where they worked and taxes were collected as a portion of the land’s produce. Labor was more akin to serfdom than slavery. Writing developed to keep records of taxes, workers, and product distribution, but only scribes who needed to keep records learned to write, perhaps 1-2% of the population. Art was encouraged and supervised by the state in the forms of ceramics, jewelry, goldsmithing, woodworking, painting and statuary.22
The great period of pyramid building began under Sneferu in the Fourth Dynasty, about 2600 BCE, followed by his son Khufu who built the largest pyramid at Giza. Construction methods – which used 2.5 million stones each weighing tons – still are a mystery to this day.23 The Nile provided fertility that resulted in grain, fruit, oils and animal products that were sufficient in all but the most severe periods of drought. The Egyptian king was considered a god and only he could communicate with the other gods.
There is no generally accepted archeological evidence of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, but biblical scholars peg this account at about 1450 BCE.24 Around this time the Pharaoh Akhenaton replaced the pantheon of Egyptian gods with the one Sun God, Aten.25 He ordered the traditional idols to be destroyed. Worship of this One God replaced the hierarchy of priests – with their many gods – who had shared in ruling over Egypt. After the death of Akhenaton the priests removed his temples and Egypt returned to its traditional political and religious divisions.
Wine was an essential part of the culture of the Egyptians.
There is clear evidence of grapes having been planted and wine having been made in the Nile Valley from about the fourth millennium BCE. A colorful mural from the tomb of Nakht in Thebes from the fifteenth century BCE depicts harvesters picking ripe grapes from an arboretum.
— Wine, Page 14
Perhaps most importantly for the origins of democracy, the concept of the One God represented the idea of a single creator of everything, and thus a god accessible to everyone. It might be that the remaining practitioners of direct worship of the One God were forced from Egypt at this time or left of their own will. The account of the Israelites’ liberation from slavery is perhaps the oldest in western culture that affirms the intrinsic value of human beings – one that has affected the course of history to this day.
This idea of One God – and the unacceptability of worshiping idols – was the most essential teaching of Moses to the Israelites. But according to the Hebrew Torah (which